The Blue Tigers played 776 passes among themselves with 705 accurate passes, as India beat Cambodia 2-0, both goals coming in from Sunil Chhetri - one in each half. There were also 24 shots on the rival goal.
Thapa who was part of the Indian team at the AFC Asian Cup 2019, suggested that the current team has improved a lot in terms of the quality of players since their previous appearance in the continental showpiece and believes they can make the cut to the competition again.
India are chasing a fifth appearance in the Asian Cup finals tournament. The Blue Tigers aim to qualify for back-to-back Asian Cups for the first time ever. Previously, India have featured in the 1964, 1984, 2011, and 2019 editions.
Ranked higher than Cambodia, the Blue Tigers will start as the favourites in the match and history is also against the Angkor Warriors who don't have the best of records against the Igor Stimac's men.
The Goa-born forward although is not a stranger to the Salt Lake Stadium, having featured for his club side ATK Mohun Bagan in the recently-concluded AFC Cup group stage matches.
The players of the Indian men's football team came forward and urged fans to come in full numbers to support the team at AFC Asian Cup final round qualifiers.
Doha [Qatar], May 29 (ANI): Indian National Team head coach Igor Stimac stated that the squad will be working on bringing back Liston Colaco, Udanta Singh, and Rahul Bheke back to action as the Blue Tigers land in Kolkata on Tuesday.
New Delhi [India], May 24 (ANI): The Senior Men's National Team head coach Igor Stimac has named the 25-member squad that is set to travel to Doha, Qatar to play a friendly match against Jordan on May 28.
New Delhi [India], May 11 (ANI): The Blue Tigers, who have begun their training camp in Kolkata, will be playing two practice matches against an All-Stars team comprising of the best players from the I-League and the Santosh Trophy.
Kolkata (West Bengal) [India], May 10 (ANI): The beautiful game is much celebrated in the City of Joy, and the Blue Tigers are excited to be in Kolkata, where they have set camp to prepare for the upcoming AFC Asian Cup Final Round Qualifiers, next month.